Message from Helen Clark, UNDP Administrator

To be delivered by Renata Lok-Dessallien, UN RC/RR China

On the occasion of the Fifth Anniversary Celebrations of the Founding of IPRCC

16 December 2010

I send my greetings to all gathered to celebrate this fifth anniversary of the establishment of the International Poverty Reduction Centre in China. UNDP is proud to have played a role in establishing the International Poverty Reduction Centre here in Beijing.

Over the past five years, the Centre has contributed to global understanding of poverty reduction, and it has facilitated knowledge- sharing, exchange, and collaboration between developing countries. It has already held training for hundreds of officials from developing countries around the world, and hosted a number of valuable South-South exchanges.

The scale of China’s success in reducing poverty over the past three decades is great - between 1981 and 2005, China lifted more than 550 million people out of poverty. This has contributed hugely to the prospects of achieving the Millennium Development Goal global target of halving the number of people living in extreme poverty by 2015.

Many people around the world continue to live in poverty. As well, gains made to date come under threat from circumstances beyond their control, not least the global recession and high food prices of recent years.

I am very pleased that UNDP and the IPRCC are continuing to work together to help realize the potential of South-South co-operation for reducing poverty. The agreement UNDP and China signed in September this year will further strengthen our collaboration.

The China-Africa Poverty Reduction and Development Conference held last month in Ethiopia was an early outcome of our new partnership. I was pleased to be able in take part in the Conference, co-hosted by the IPRCC, UNDP, and the Government of Ethiopia. There was good exchange between the representatives from China and from many African Countries on poverty reduction, rural development, and food security. UNDP very much looks forward to taking forward the agreement signed in Ethiopia for an expanded UNDP and IPRCC China-Africa programme.

In closing, I wish the IPRCC great success in the future in carrying out its important mandate. I look forward to an ever deeper and stronger partnership between UNDP and IPRCC to advance sustainable human development worldwide.